Corona Virus Japanese-English Vocabulary List

Here are some terms you may find used in the Japanese press regarding the Corona Virus COVID-19 and their English translations. These are unofficial translations.

I got a lot of these translations from the classic WWWJDIC.

For more information on the COVID-19 situation in Japan, see this Reddit r/JapanTravel thread.

Wash your hands.

新型コロナウイルス / shingata corona uirusu / Corona Virus

感染者 / kansensha / an infected person

感染者数 / kansenshasuu / number of infected people

感染する/ kansensuru / to infect (to spread a disease)

2時感染者 / nijikansensha / secondary infection (if infected are put into a hospital and infect someone who was not infected)

接触感染 / sesshoku kansen / infection through contact

飛沫感染 / himatsu kansen / infection from droplets

感染爆発 / kansenbakuhatsu / explosive increase in infections

ソーシャルディスタンス / sousharu disutansu /social distance

一定距離 / ittei kyori / fixed distance (from something, used in context of social distancing

軽傷者 / keishousha / an infected person with light symptoms

疫病 / ekibyou / pandemic

世界的大流行 / sekaiteki dairyuukou / pandemic

防疫 / boueki / communicable disease control (e.g. by quarantine, disinfection, etc.); 

休校 / kyuukou / school cancelation

延期 / enki / postponed

無期延期 / mukienki / postponed without set date to be rescheduled

中止 / chuushi / cancelled

休業 / kyuugyou / business temporarily closed

休業要請 / kyuugyou yousei / request (by the government) to temporarily closes business

休園 / kyuuen / park temporarily closed

休演 / kyuuen / performance or show canceled

時短 / jitan / reduced hours

拡大防止 / kakudai boushi / prevent from spreading further

自宅待機 / jitaku taiki / stay (quarantined) in your home

コロナ感染防止対策 / korona kansen boushi taisaku / measures to prevent the spread of the Corona Virus

臨時休館 / rinjikyuukan / a temporary (irregular) closing

時間短縮 / jikan tanshuku / reduced hours (of operation)

感染情報 / kansen jyouhou / information about the status of the infection

感染症 / kansenshou / infectious disease; infection;

感染力 / kansenryoku / degree of infectiousness (how infectious something is)

家庭感染 / katei kansen / infection at home among one’s family

蔓延 / manen /  infestation; proliferation; being widespread 

致死率 / chishiritsu / fatality rate

死亡率 / shibouritsu / death rate

陰性 / insei / negative

陽性 / yousei / positive

再陽性 / saiyousei / reinfection (recovered but tested positive again)

緊急事態宣言/ kinkyuu jitai senngenn / declare a state of emergency

緊急対策 / kinkyutaisaku / emergency measures

デマ情報 / dema jyouhou / fake news

消毒 / shoudoku / disinfectant

 除菌 / jyokin / disinfection; sterilize;

アルコール消毒 / arukouru shoudoku / alcohol disinfectant

在庫 / zaiko / inventory

品切れ / hingire / out of stock, stock shortage

転売 / tenbai / reselling (e.g., 転売禁止 in regards to masks)

感染確認 / kansen kakunin / confirmed infections

厚生労働省 / kouseiroudoushou / Ministry of Health Labor and Welfare

高熱 / kounetsu / high fever

発熱 / hatsunetsu / to have (get) a fever

頭痛 / zutsuu / headache

検温 / kenon / temperature measurement

肺炎 / haien / pneumonia

検査 / kensa / inspection; examination;

入国規制 / nyuukoku kisei / immigration restriction

入国拒否 / nyuukokukyohi / denying entry to a country (immigration denial)

渡航制限 / tokou seigen / restrictions and limitations on flights

無観客 / mukankyaku / an event with no audience (many live events are being changed to live events with no live audience, i.e., televised only)

外出制限 / gaishutsu seigen / restrictions on going outside of your home (lockdown)

外出禁止 / gaishutsu kinshi / prohibited to go outdoors

自宅待機要請 / jitaku taiki yousei / a request to stay-at-home

不要不急 / fuyoufukyuu / unnecessary and not urgent (不要不急な渡航 travel that is neither necessary nor urgent)

指数関数的に増加する / shisuukannsuuteki ni zoukasuru / grow exponentially

密閉 密集 密接 / mippei misshuu missetsu / places with bad circulation, crowded places, close contact with others

行動変容 / koudou henyou / behavior change (change daily patterns to prevent spread)

最多を更新 / saita wo koushin / more than the previous maximum (used when reporting daily infection numbers)

医療崩壊 / iryou houkai / collapse of the healthcare system

封鎖解除 / fuusa kaijyo / “release of lockdown” city lockdown removed

警戒感 / keikaikan / feeling of urgency

個人防御服 / kojinbougyofuku / personal protective equipment

病床数 / byoushousuu / number of hospital beds

第二波 / dainiha / second wave

ガス抜き / gasu nuki / “out of gas” referring to people who are tired of doing self-restraint and start going out again.

出口戦略 / deguchi senryaku / exit strategy

新たな生活様式 / aratana seikatsu youshiki / new lifestyle

コロナ太り / korona butori / weight gained because you stayed indoors so long doing nothing during the corona pandemic

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Sean

学級閉鎖 is also a good one for individual classes being quarantined.
ウンチ切符が無くなった is a good one for when every idiot housewife in the damn country buys up all the toilet paper.

Keri

If you added 延期 (postponed), then you might as well add 中止 (cancelled), because many events are getting not only getting postponed, but also cancelled.

Also, 休業 (businesses), 休園 (e.g. Disney land) , 休演 (stage performances), etc all mean cancellation, closure, suspension, etc.

Roger McCormick

A very useful.list

Thank you